Greaser Heaven
by Desertfyre
Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny in the afterlife.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: As always I go by movie-verse for the most part, especially the way the characters look. (PS- I have officially read the book; It was awesome! =D) Aside from the prologue, each chapter is dedicated to one member of the gang, in the order of which they die.

Although not strictly necessary it may help to read my story Crossfire in the Sky to understand where I'm coming from here. And then Failure before Crossfire since the latter is the sequel to the former.

As usual, story is written out but gonna take me a few days to upload.

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

Dallas Winston snatched the last fry with an internal smirk as he ignored Johnny's, although playfully, but glowering glare.

"You know there is more where these came from right?" Dallas asked this time a smirk coming through.

"Well, since you ate the last fry, you can go get it", Johnny groused picking up his milkshake and taking a sip. He ended up sucking the air in the cup after a few seconds. "And while you are back there, get me another shake, will you?" he paused his air sucking the cup to say before going back.

Dallas rolled his eyes and stood up from the table that was situated outside and proceeded to walk into the kitchen of The Dingo and began rummaging around for some more fries, as well as fixing another milkshake for Johnny.

Although Dallas was sure he'd had been with Johnny in their strange version of an afterlife for many years, he still couldn't get over just how similar their afterlife was to their lives when they were alive. When he arrived long ago, though he felt it was only a few days ago, it was night time. Since then, he learned there seemed to be a day and night situation, although slightly different from the living world.

The weather was always cool and mild, it never got really cold or really hot. It was like it was springtime for an eternity. Dallas had gotten used to that quick. The night sky that was a beautiful black and purple with millions of stars and four moons, was slightly different in the day. The day sky was a beautiful baby blue with a greenish hue and a shred of purple from the night. The four moons were always in the sky. Johnny thought they served as a weird version of a sun or rather suns. At night they were a milky yellowish color and in the day they almost white.

It was quiet as Dallas fixed up the food and sat it on a tray. Well, that was because, there was not another soul around for miles. He and Johnny knew because they looked. Well, excluding Mr. and Mrs. Curtis and themselves there wasn't anyone else around. He and Johnny had been all over the place. The country and even the West side where the Socs were supposedly had lived. The layout for their afterlife was exactly like the layout of the neighborhood and its surroundings…minus all the people.

They had the run of this place and Dallas thought it was awesome. Even more awesome was the fact that he and Johnny ran the place together. He couldn't imagine living in this place by himself. Dallas picked up the tray and walked back to the table. Somehow, when they went out to eat there was always food there. It was like it magically appeared or something, so techincally they never had to cook...unless they wanted to. Mrs. Curtis sometimes cooked but neither Dallas or Johnny knew how or even wanted to for that matter.

This afterlife was weird but Dallas found he wasn't knocking it. He gave Johnny his shake. "Thank you", Johnny grinned.

Dallas grinned back and sat down starting on more fries. Johnny had already begun eating some. What Dallas was most pleased about was the fact that Johnny wasn't the same scared kid he had been when he was living. Johnny was more outgoing and could be sassy if he wanted to be. He as the kid that Dallas always knew he could be.

Suddenly the temperature dropped and the sky darkened slightly. Johnny shivered. "What was that?" he asked as he looked around.

"I don't know. This never happened before, did it?" Dallas asked, looking around as well, before looking back at Johnny.

Said young male was staring fixedly at a spot behind Dallas, his mouth opened slightly. Dallas followed his glaze, turning to look. His own mouth fell open slightly. There was a beam of light that looked like a tornado some distance away. Even as far away as it was, it twinkled like stars in the sky. It was gone as fast as it came and the temperature returned to normal, the minor darkness in the sky disappearing.

There was silence for a good minute.

"What...was that?" Dallas hissed finally, his eyes narrowing as he glanced back at Johnny.

Johnny stood up. "I think I might know…." He took off. "Come on!"

Dallas stuffed a final fry into his mouth and darted after Johnny. "Hey, wait up man! It could be dangerous."

"Dally, we're dead…I think we past the danger zone", Johnny said wryly.

"Well, slow down and tell me what's going on." Dallas tone booked no argument.

Johnny conceded and the two walked at a brisk pace to the general sighting of the tornado. "This happened just before you came."

Dallas blinked. It took a minute before then he put everything together. "Do you mean….someone else has died? That we got a new member to this club."

"That's my guess", Johnny nodded.

Both Dallas and Johnny wondered about this new development.

**TBC…**

* * *

A.N: Needed a prologue to set up the story and to see how Johnny and Dallas are doing. Now, let's see if anyone can guess who will rejoin the gang first. We got five choices….


	2. Part I

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: Victim #1 is set. First in line is…..

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

He groaned as his eyes fluttered. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have had that last drink. His head was pounding. He groaned again and turned on his side, scrunching up into a ball, his eyes shut tightly. He found as he laid there his headache disappeared. Finally, he flopped back on his back and cracked open an eye.

Followed by the other.

He stood staring up at the sky blankly. He blinked.

Then blinked again.

Finally, with a groan he sat up and looked around. It took a moment to realize where he was. This was the lot near the Curtis' house! He stood up quickly, nearly tripping over himself. He blinked hard and looked around.

Wait, he remembered, being in a hospital or something...something. It eluded him at the moment. Unconsciously, he reached up to run a hand through his hair. It came back greased.

What the...? He hadn't really greased his hair in years and if he did, it wasn't with this much. He touched his face. No stubble or beard. He looked down. He was wearing his Mickey Mouse shirt! Granted, he still had several (and various Mickey Mouse accessories but that was another issue) but this was the one he was wearing when he was a teenager.

Okay, now he was really confused.

Two bit Keith Matthews pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, trying to remember what eluded him. He was sure it was something important. It was a moment before he looked up and looked around the familiar lot, which he hadn't seen in quite awhile. It was a comforting sight at the moment. He gave a small smile before he sighed.

"Now, to figure out…what the heck is going on?" he murmured to himself. But honestly, he had no idea where to start. He seemed at a lost.

Finally he decided to check out the park. So he began walking all the while watching around him warily. Something was unnerving him and it took him awhile to figure it out. He finally did figure it out.

It was quiet.

Almost too quiet.

Two-bit seemed to slip back into that familiar role he had been when he was a teenager. Suddenly he stopped and patted himself down. He paused, a thought catching up to him. Then he ran. He ran until he got to the fountain, which he was thankful that the water was still going. It would serve his purpose. Cautiously he peaked into the water. He lifted a hand and touched his face, and then his hair. He looked at the Mickey Mouse on his shirt.

It was as he thought…he was as he was when he was 18 years old. His mouth opened and for once he couldn't seem to think behind that.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure it was around this area", Johnny murmured walking towards the lot.

"You probably can guess better than I can", Dallas snorted.

"That's cause I pay attention", Johnny glanced at the older male with a smirk. He ducked a playful punch by Dallas. Johnny stopped and surveyed the area.

"If this means someone else has died and joined us, I highly doubt they would stay in one place. They might have awaken and walked off. And we have no idea where they went", said Dallas.

"Maybe…if we weren't so far we might have gotten here sooner."

"That how you got to me so fast?" Dallas asked after a moment had passed. The two didn't particularly talk about that night or their deaths much.

"I was at the Curtis' actually, when I saw the tornado light and came to investigate." Johnny answered glancing around, "So I wasn't that far."

Dallas just nodded, looking around. "Hey." He nudged Johnny and pointed to a figure coming from the general area of the park. Said figure stopped and looked around before picking a direction and walking off.

"Is that…?" Johnny asked. Part of him dreaded it because of what it meant yet another part was excited.

"Yeah, I think it is", Dallas grinned and took off running.

* * *

Two-bit walked out of the park. Now where to? He still didn't even understand what was happening. How could he be 18 years old again? He was pretty sure it went against all logic. He stopped and looked up the streets before deciding to walk around and hope things would began to make sense.

He hadn't been walking long when he heard running behind him. He turned, his hand going to his back pocket, bringing out his switchblade. He blinked and had to falter to look at his blade. Two-bit hadn't done such a thing in a long, long time. It was just his 18 year old instinct.

"Two-bit…is that you?" came a voice.

Said male looked up and near dropped his blade. His eyes were wide as saucers. "No..no…this…this can't be", he whispered. He stared at his two friends that had been dead for years and they look exactly as they did just before they died.

"Sup." Dallas sketched a salute with a cocky grin.

Johnny smiled before he frowned, "Hey, Two-bit…I know it's weird, but it's us."

"No", Two-bit said gripping his blade and his eyes going flat like it would when he would fight, "It's not possible. You two are dead. Have been for years….."

"We know", Dallas stated. He took a step towards Two-bit who turned the knife on him. "That wouldn't do anything to us", he tried to explain, "I mean…we are dead."

Two-bit just started at the two. Something was coming back to him.

Hospital.

Cords.

Words.

Doctor saying something...

Suddenly he dropped his knife. "Oh my God….I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead!" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that", said Dallas.

Two-bit sunk to the ground, sitting Indian style, his eyes wide. Johnny took a seat next to him and put an arm around him. Two-bit just stared at him. Dallas sat in front of the two. He picked up Two-bit's knife and began playing with it. Silence reigned for the longest while. Johnny dropped his arm and began watching Dallas. Two-bit was lost in his thoughts.

.

.

.

"...I was 46."

"I'm sorry?" Dallas asked looking up as Johnny looked questionably at Two-bit.

Two-bit sighed. "I was 46 years old, when I died and somehow I look like I used to look. You know when I was 18."

Dallas and Johnny nodded as Two-bit continued. "Died of liver cancer…..citrus-toeis or something."

"...Cirrhosis..."

Dallas and Two-bit look at Johnny, with an impressed but amused look. Johnny blushed and shrugged. "I know some things…" he murmured.

Two-bit grinned looking like his old self. "Yeah, I was diagnosed with it a year-ish earlier. I had been sick the past two months. The gang was always visiting when they could. I finally died. I think I went peacefully for the most part. I hope that the gang isn't too worried." He frowned at the thought.

"I'm sure they'll get through it", Johnny tried to comfort Two-bit.

Two-bit nodded. "Yeah…didn't mean to leave so soon but…." He trailed off not having anything else to say.

"They got through us…they'll get through you too", Dallas added.

Two-bit gave a dry grin. "Gee, thanks…."

Dallas flash a grin. "You're welcome."

"Well at least you got a long time to live. What did you say? 46 years old at time of death?" Johnny asked.

"Yep. 46." Two-bit nodded with a small grin.

"And I'm pleasantly surprised you lasted that long." Dallas snorted.

"Well someone had to stay and help keep together what was left of the gang."

"I'm glad." Johnny murmured.

Silence reigned for a bit until Dallas snorted as a thought came to his mind.

Two-bit looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"You finally drank yourself to death, huh?" Dallas said with a bark of laughter.

Two-bit gave a cheeky grin. "Would you have it any other way?"

Johnny shook his head. "Hey. What about the others?"

"Sodapop and Steve brought the DX and became and still is the popular gas station in town. I actually got a job in a bar."

"What? The world is ending…quick!" Dallas cried in mock horror, "Save yourself Johnny!"

Two-bit jumped on Dallas and wrestled him playfully. Johnny laughed. "Seriously, you held a job, longer than five minutes?"

Two-bit looked up from Dallas in a headlock. "Yep, worked there for 15 years", he released Dallas and settled back down, "Well actually, worked there for five and owned it for 10."

Dallas gaped at him. "Wow, Two-bit you made something out of yourself. I'm impressed." He ducked at swing at him.

"How about Darry and Ponyboy?" Johnny asked his breath catching on his best friend's name.

Two-bit gave a wide smile. "Well, Darry was finally able to go back to college later in life. Got a degree or whatever and became owner of a construction company. He played football in college as a hobby. Ponyboy became a renowned writer since he was in his early 20's…even earlier actually."

"Wow! That's great!" Johnny said ecstatic to hear about his friend's success.

"Yep…once Ponyboy was out of high school and went to college for two years and started making some money officially…he got a house in the country. Invited all of us to live with him. So we did. The greaser/soc conflicted ended officially a few years after ya'll deaths, but we wanted to do something different so we gave country life a try. Like I said, Darry went back to college which Ponyboy paid for his writer money. Pony had to near threaten Darry to go back. Darry didn't want his kid brother to pay his way….but he was finally convinced or rather was threatened."

"Wow! That's so great of Ponyboy to do that."

"Yeah, he was making some money before he was out of high school with his writing, got a scholarship and most of the writing schools wanted that boy, so that practically paid his way. So with some of the money saved from his writing he shipped Darry off of school, partly as a thank you for raising me gift, I reckon."

Dallas and Johnny were grinning at that. "Our boy went on and became somebody…." The former gave a laugh.

Two-bit nodded then sobered, "I think our biggest conflict after ya'll death was that Sodapop was shipped to Vietnam."

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Seriously?" asked Dallas.

"Yeah, the war started and got so bad they started drafting people. It's a miracle that Soda didn't die over there."

"That must have been horrible, especially for Darry and Pony." Johnny lamented.

Two-bit sighed at the memory, "It was…the longest year of our lives…excluding again when you guys died. We almost fell apart. Steve drifted away, I tried to help Darry and Ponyboy as much as I could. Ponyboy barely survived that. But thankfully, Sodapop came back and things went on."

"That's good", Johnny breathed.

"All in all, I think I lived a pretty good life. Woulda been great to get longer to live but its cool…especially since I get to see you two." Two-bit gave a small smirk. Johnny beamed while Dallas gave a smirk.

After that silence followed for the longest as the three reflected on recent events.

A thought suddenly occurred to Two-bit. "Hey, since you two are here and I'm here…do you think we'll meet up with the others someday?"

Johnny smiled. "I do actually."

"Wonder how that happens?" Dallas mused.

"Don't knock it, Dal."

"Who said I was?"

"So what's the dig here?" Two-bit asked.

Dallas grinned. "I think you'll love it,"

"Yeah…do tell", Two-bit returned the grin.

"Well, this place looks exactly like our neighborhood and surrounding area." Johnny explained.

Two-bit's grin dropped a fraction. "Okay…" He couldn't see much point there.

"But there is no one else here but us…and Curtis' parents", Dallas said.

"Wait, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are here?"

"Yep."

"And what do you mean no one else is here but us?"

Dallas rolled his eyes. "What do you think I mean?"

"We have the run of this place. Even on the West side where the Socs lived there is no one." Johnny elaborated.

Two-bit looked thoughtful. "You mean aside from the three of us and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis we could do anything we want?"

"Yep, pretty much."

Suddenly, Two-bit grinned mischievously, "Then I know the first thing I want to do."

Johnny looked a little nervous while Dallas grinned and leaned forward. "What?" the latter asked.

Two-bit leaned in, the devious grin widen if that was possible, "Raid the West side."

Johnny rolled his eyes and Dallas stared at Two-bit. "How come I never thought about that?"

Two-bit and Johnny cracked up at how indignant Dallas sounded. Two-bit snatched his blade that he was sure was no more for show then anything and jumped up. Dallas and Johnny followed suit.

"Let's go…we got work to do!" Two-bit cried as he took off to the West side followed by his two friends. He really hoped that what Johnny said was true and one day the gang would be reunited again. He'd look forward to it.

**TBC…. **

* * *

A.N: Yay, Two-bit rejoins the gang! One down and four to go.

Wonder who's up next for the chopping block? Any guesses?


	3. Part II

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: Let's see how many people guessed the next one to rejoin the group. Enjoy...

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

"Promise me, you'll make sure you stay and take care of your brothers and yourself. I don't want you to go crazy on my account, not like I did when you went to 'Nam", a rasping voice said, "Besides if you go, then your whole family falls apart you know that. We came too far to fall apart at this moment."

"What happened to from the cradle to the grave?" another voice asked with tears in its voice.

The first chuckled. "Hey, we'll meet again."

"What makes you say that?"

"I dunno…I just think we will. Besides we will always be best friends"

"Yea, we will. You swear?"

"I swear."

* * *

Two-bit laughed at the TV. "Ahh, Mickey...how you amuse me so."

Dallas rolled his eyes from where he was laying down on the couch. Johnny was chuckling at the TV as well. They were currently sitting in the Curtis' living room. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had gone to the country for a 'vacation' so the boys were left to run the house. Now, how TV works in the afterlife they had no idea. Two-bit said once maybe it streamed or something from the living world.

Well, there were many mysteries of this afterlife they were in and frankly they did not care to understand all of it.

"It shows how little you need for entertainment. If a mouse is what entertains you…that's a sad thing", Dallas muttered under his breath but loud enough for Two-bit to hear him.

Johnny yelped and darted out of the way as Two-bit tackled Dallas. "Take that back!" he cried clearly offended.

Johnny groaned and stood by the window. Seems Dallas would know better than to offend Two-bit by offending Mickey Mouse. But then again, knowing Dallas he probably said that to pick a fight.

"No one offend The Mouse like that!" Two-bit growled, though there was real amusement in his eyes.

"It's a mouse, you dope! A mouse!" Dallas growled back but was equal amusement in his eyes.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Two-bit cried.

"We are already dead, you moron!"

Johnny just sighed as the two continued to banter back and forth. He looked back outside. It was currently evening and night was settling. His eyes widen after a moment. "Hey!" he cried, "Look!"

Dallas and Two-bit stopped at the urgency in Johnny's voice and both stood and went to the window. Light shined into the window, making the trio have to almost squint their eyes.

"It's that tornado thing again", said Dallas.

"Did it get warm in here?" Two-bit asked. He had gotten used to the no change springtime weather like Johnny and Dallas. So it was weird that there was a change.

"I think another has joined us", Johnny said as the tornado light started dying.

Dallas nodded. "Yeah, wonder who it is this time."

Two-bit looked between the two. "What are you two talking about?"

"This happens when someone dies. It happened when you came and Johnny said the same thing happened when I got here", Dallas nodded to the almost faded light.

"Well, what are we waiting for? It looked like it was coming from the general direction of….of…" Two-bit paused as he tried to figure it out.

"The area of the gas station…the DX", Johnny finished for Two-bit after a moment.

"Well, let's not stand around", Dallas was the first out the door, followed by Two-bit and Johnny. They all ran to the DX wondering who it was they would re-welcome next.

* * *

He opened his eyes with a quiet groan. He blinked as he stared up at…what looked to be a white covering thing...He scrunched his eyes confused.

Sitting up slowly he looked around registering his surroundings. "The DX?" he murmured. With a small groan he stood and wiped his pants, looking around. Cars littered the station. "This is the DX alright." he confirmed to himself.

He walked a few paces. He could have sworn that the gas station had been updated from this look. The stationed looked exactly like the one from his teen years.

Shaking his head to clear it he called out as he walked, "Hey, Sodapop! Soda!" Reaching the inside of the gas station, he poked his head in. It looked as if no one was there.

Maybe his friend had gone home already though he was surprised that Soda didn't wake him up or anything. Something wasn't adding up for him.

Steve Randle looked around again before looking up at the sky. He frowned then twitched. "Four moons?" he asked, "What the heck?" He was sure that wasn't normal.

Steve groaned and placed his face in a hand. Apparently the drugs he did when he was younger were catching up with him. It was a moment before something started nagging at him. He began patting his face. His face was smooth.

Too smooth.

Steve turned and walked back into the gas station, into the bathroom and flipped the light. He gasped into the mirror. He was looking like he did when he was 17 years old. He touched his face looking into the mirror as well as gingerly touching his now greased up hair. He was wearing his DX outfit of his 17 years of age. He and Sodapop had long since gotten new DX uniforms and what he was wearing wasn't it. And no wonder the DX looked as it did back then. There had been some remodeling over the years, the station he was currently in, clearly wasn't remodeled.

Steve flipped off the switch and rushed back outside, looking around wildly. He had to find Soda or Darry now! Actually at this moment, he'd take Ponyboy. Granted since Dallas' and Johnny's death, they had come to a mutual understanding with one another, but that didn't mean that Steve liked the guy. Respect and admire perhaps.

"Soda! Darry! ...Ponyboy?"

"Sorry to say, buddy…but they aren't here", came a voice. Actually a familiar voice.

Very familiar voice.

Steve spun around to see Two-bit grinning at him. Steve stared at the man. He too looked like he was as a teenager.

"Ahem."

Steve's eyes traveled towards to sound; he found himself locking eyes with Dallas, who smirked. Dallas tilted his head to him before looking to the other side of Two-bit. It made Steve follow his glaze. If possible his eyes widen when he saw the teen he hadn't see since his death. Johnny was smiling at him yet concern laced his eyes. Steve looked between the trio in front of him, acting casual as if there was nothing unusual going on.

Finally he was able to speak. "D-Dal? Johnny?" he looked back at Two-bit. "Two-bit?"

"Yo!" Two-bit raised a hand and gave a short wave, "Glad you remember us."

"I…..what…..Soda? Where's Soda?" Steve finally managed to ask looking around again. He looked up at the sky once more. He couldn't get over the four moons business.

Johnny stepped forward. "He's not here." He stated slowly.

Steve looked back at Johnny. "You are dead…all of you are. It's not possible. I mean for me to see you guys…I'd have to be either dreaming or...or..." He stopped when it hit him. Steve looked as if he got punched in the stomatch.

"Yeah…sorry buddy. You have flown the cuckoo's nest and not in a good way", Two-bit tried to get Steve to grin.

Steve just stared at him. "But…I…..when….it….."

The trio had never seen Steve so flabbergasted before. His eyes were so wide they look like they would pop out of their sockets.

"I'm dead." It came out a statement.

"Yeah." Dallas nodded.

Steve just turned and walked like a zombie to a random car which had the hood down. He opened the back door and got in and just sat there. The trio exchanged glances before walking over to the car. Dallas got in the driver's seat, Johnny in the passenger's and Two-bit next to Steve in the back seat, behind Johnny. Steve sat staring at the back of the driver's seat.

"Hey, talk to us. You remember us, right?" Two-bit asked worry lacing his voice after quite awhile had passed.

"Clearly." Came Steve's answer after a minute.

"It's not that bad here", Johnny tried to reassure the re-newest gang member.

"Want to tell us how you bit it?" Dallas asked.

For awhile the gang thought that Steve wasn't going to answer until he finally opened his mouth and answered, "Heart failure."

"Your heart failed?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah…from the smoking and mostly for the drug use when Sodapop got shipped to 'Nam that year. Apparently it all caught up with me."

"You went into drug use?" Dallas asked looking in the rearview mirror at Steve. If it was one thing that Dallas didn't do it was drugs.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I just fell apart after Soda got drafted. Sorta drifted away from Darry and Ponyboy at the time. When he came back he helped get me off of drugs." At this Steve gave a small smile. "Then we went back to work for the DX. Our boss decided he was ready to retire and sold us the station. Been working there ever since. That is until I started getting sick…well first I didn't feel well and had to stop working then I did get sick. Then I got extremely sick then I guess I died."

"Wow….." Two-bit murmured.

"I just hope Sodapop's not stupid enough to let this get him down and leave his family. They still need him. I just hope it's enough for him to live awhile longer." Steve stated absently. He did remember the promise he managed to extract out of his best friend. He hoped that Sodapop was strong enough to keep that promise.

"Well, I hope so too, but if not…he'll probably join us here." Johnny treaded softly.

"If I see him any time soon, I'll beat him back into the living, that for sure", Steve snorted.

"That's the spirit", Two-bit whooped. He, Dallas and Johnny was glad to see a smidge of the old sprit that was Steve Randle.

Steve gave a grin. "So where's here?" he asked.

"Welcome to the afterlife!" Two-bit said with a spooky voice, wiggling his fingers at Steve.

"I can see that", Steve stated dully. Two-bit shrugged as Steve asked, "Why do we all look like when we were teenagers? I mean I understand Johnny and Dallas, considering you guys were teenagers when you guys died, no offense."

Dallas snorted, "None taken."

Johnny just shrugged as Steve continued switching his glaze back to Two-bit, "But we were older when we died. Much older."

"How old were you when you died?" Johnny asked.

"55 years."

Dallas whistled. "Wow, that's pretty good."

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, it was."

"That means you beat me out 10 years." Two-bit grumbled albeit good-naturedly.

Steve nodded. "Yep."

"Well, I'm glad the gang was able to move on." Two-bit was genuine glad about that fact. He had always been worried about the only family he had.

"It wasn't easy. Some days were hard…especially when the anniversary of your death came up…just like when Dallas' and Johnny's came up." Steve remarked quietly.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Well…..at least we upped the gang here by one. That's got to account for something right?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah, I guess it does. So what's the scoop up here?" Steve asked looking around again before looking up at the sky. Night had settled by now. "And seriously, I'm positive that there is no such thing as four moons in the sky."

"Welcome to the afterlife...we got more mysteries then a graveyard", Two-bit stated with a nod. Then he tipped his head in thought of his comment and started snickering.

Dallas snorted turning in his seat to look at Two-bit who was flat out laughing by now and stated dryly, "Nice slogan…maybe we should see about having business cards made. They can hand them out when people start dying."

This made Two-bit laugh harder, clutching his stomatch for dear life near sliding down in his seat, as Johnny snickered and Steve just rolled his eyes though he was vastly amused. Dallas looked at Two-bit with a dry look while muttering under his breath. It wasn't that funny actually. Steve and the rest of the gang who had lived after his death had missed Two-bit's crazy bantering to tell the truth. It hadn't been the same without Two-bit putting in his two bits. The man had a joke for everything under the sun.

Once Two-bit had managed to calm down and was wiping the tears from his face with a soft chuckle, Johnny turned in his seat and looked at Steve, "Honestly, sometimes we found it's easier to just go with what comes." he answered the previously asked question. Then Johnny leaned back as much as he could in his seat, his head on the headrest looking up at the sky. There were a few moments of silence before he stated, "It's a beautiful sight though."

Johnny knew that Ponyboy would enjoy such a sight. He longed for the day when he would meet up with his best friend again but he still he hoped he didn't see him anytime soon. He wanted Ponyboy to live a full life. This could wait. He'd had all the time in the world to meet Ponyboy again. Johnny smiled at the thought.

Dallas spoke up, having been looking at the sky. "I always found if I look at it too long, I feel the moons will fall on me."

"You too, huh?" Two-bit grinned as he looked from the sky to Dallas. Dallas glanced at him with a grin and nod.

"I just find it weird, man", Steve said tearing his glaze away from the moons.

"Well, let me tell you what you are in for", Two-bit said slapping Steve on the arm.

"What?"

"Well for one, aside from us the only other people here are the Curtis'."

"Really?"

Two-bit nodded.

"Wow, Soda, Darry and Pony will be ecstatic to find that out. They always missed their parents."

"Agreed. And more awesomely, we own this place. No seriously, we are the only ones up here. I mean, we can go to the West side and no one says anything cause no one else is here. You dig?"

Steve looked shocked as he looked at Johnny who nodded with a grin. Dallas was grinning in the mirror and said, "Complete and total control."

"I could get use to that!" Steve grinned.

"Well, let's ride to the West side and stop for something to snack on, on the way", Two-bit suggested, "I gotta show you this Soc's house man. It's party central there."

Steve felt excitement grow. He leaned forward a little, straightening in his seat.

"Hit it, Dal", Johnny nodding his head to the car.

"Wait, don't you have to have a key or something?" Steve asked gesturing upon seeing that there was no key in the ignition.

"Nah, man….." Dallas turned the ignition and it started up.

Two-bit laughed at Steve expression as Dallas took off. Steve gaped. "How?"

"The same way we get TV and movies and unlimited food without having to cook it ourselves if we don't want too." Two-bit answered.

Steve turned to Two-bit and repeated, "How?"

Two-bit shrugged, "Dunno…it just it. Remember the more mysteries then a graveyard? My case in point. Just accept it and move on."

Steve chuckled and leaned back in his seat. This didn't seem so bad. He was back with the rest of the gang that had died. He was sure that he'd see Sodapop someday after what happened here. He'd look forward to see Sodapop and Darry.

Even Ponyboy.

But as he said before…if he saw Soda or even Darry or Ponyboy anytime soon, he'd beat them back into the living.

And that was a promise.

**TBC….**

* * *

A.N: And then there were 3. Now we are down to the Curtis'. Wonder which Curtis is the first to go...


	4. Part III

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: We are down to the Curtis family now! Which is next? The final three!

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

What happened?

That car just ran the red light and crashed into the other.

Oh, my God. Is everyone alright?

The young guy that crashed into the other, running the red light will. The old man died before the ambulance could get to him.

That's horrible. I can't believe he didn't survive.

The young guy was doing 80 in a 25 mph, ran the light and hit the driver's side of the other car dead on. It would have been a miracle if anyone survived that…..

* * *

"Come on, come on…." Two-bit grunted struggling.

Steve smirked in between his struggling. "Not gonna help ya, Two-bit."

Johnny looked between the two blinking as he watched.

Dallas sighed looking at each of them. "Seriously, you two...you are both almost evenly matched. Ya'll been holding for the last minute or so."

"No we aren't", Steve said as he finally pushed Two-bit arm down. Two-bit grunted and flexed his arm to get back the circulation as Steve cheered. Two-bit glared at Steve as Steve grinned and gloated. "If I can beat Sodapop in arm-wrestling I can beat just about anyone."

Dallas pushed Two-bit out the way. "You wanna bet?"

Steve grinned. "You are on!" He looked at Johnny. "Hey, after I beat 'ol Dal here, I'll get to you next."

Johnny gave a quick reassuring smile and waved a dismissing hand. "Nah, that's okay. I'm good. I know you'd beat me and I'd like to keep my arm, thanks."

Dallas, Two-bit and Steve chuckled. The afterlife gang was currently in a field hanging out. They had been hanging out almost all morning and it was afternoon now. Steve had found an old crate and immediately offered an arm-wrestling challenge. It had been quite some time since Steve had re-joined the gang. The afterlife had been becoming livelier as more of the gang began rejoining.

"Let's go, wimp", Steve shot snapping his glaze back at Dallas.

Dallas raised an eyebrow and looked at Steve coolly yet with a hint of danger. "Who are you calling a wimp? Surely not me."

"Okay, the grass, then. Look, man, come on!" Steve growled, guestering his hand out.

Dallas growled back and putted up his arm, locking hands with Steve. Two-bit grinned and placed both of his hands atop theirs. "Ya'll ready?" he asked looking between the two.

"I was born ready", Steve answered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's go", Dallas groused.

"Ready…and…GO!" Two-bit lifted his hands and the arm wrestling was on.

"Wow, pretty good guys", Johnny complimented. The fact was neither male was so much as moving a muscle, they were so evenly matched. Two-bit whistled as he watched.

They had been holding for quite some time longer than Two-bit and Steve.

"Any decade now", Two-bit muttered.

"Be quiet!" Dallas hissed.

Suddenly the sky darkened slightly. "Seriously?" Two-bit said as light filtered into the field. This change made both Steve and Dallas lose their concentration and release hands.

"I think this means someone else has come", Johnny said shielding his eyes.

"Well, there are only the Curtis' now", said Steve squinting his eyes.

Dallas murmured looking over his shoulder since his back was to the tornado light. "It seems quite close. Closer than the other times."

Johnny agreed as the light began fading.

Two-bit was shaking his head and blinking rapidly. "Whoo…near blinded me."

"Well, who told you to look into the light, fool?" Dallas asked.

"Shut up!"

"Come on…that doesn't look too far", Johnny said standing up. The group began trekking to the area the tornado light was seen all wondering which Curtis it was as they guessed it would be one of them.

* * *

He awoke to the sound of voices. Groaning he opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. He looked around carefully. Clutching his head, he sat up. When he dropped his hand it came back greased. He stared at it a moment before rubbing his hands together trying to process what was happening. Reaching up he touched his hair again. The style seemed familiar but he couldn't place it at the moment.

Standing, he looked around. It took a moment for his surroundings to click. He was outside the fence of the Nightly Double. The voices were from the movie playing. He glazed at the screen for a little while before turning and studying his surroundings carefully, taking in what there was to take in. He tried to rationalize what was happening.

What was happening?

No, seriously, he really didn't understand anything at the moment. And he felt different. And if this was the Nightly Double, why weren't there more people around? Actually, there was something bothering him concerning the Nightly Double itself. He glanced at the chairs.

No one seemed to occupy them. Well, it was early but still…why would a movie be playing?

There were cars in the lot too. He found himself walking to the opening in the fence he knew to be there. He got down and wiggled his way through to stand up on the other side of the fence. He sighed and cautiously walked over to a car intending on finding out what was going on. He peaked in found no one. He looked around at the other cars and found that no one occupied them. Strange...

His eyes caught the outside car mirror and he whipped his head towards it so fast, he almost got whiplash. He turned to face the mirror, peering into it. He touched his face. There weren't any age lines. And now he knew what was familiar about his hair. It was the same as when he was in his twenties.

Darryl Shannyne Curtis, Jr. mouth parted in surprise. He felt panic rise up but he forced it down and tried to think things through. He looked down at himself. Even his body felt like it did when he was twenty. He straightened and took a few deep breaths as he looked around. Now he figured out what was bothering him about this place. By rights the Night Double shouldn't even be here but it was like back then. Darry looked at the movie screen. Some wacked out horror movie that wasn't even scary was playing.

"Hello! Anyone here?" he called out walking around cautiously looking for any signs of life. Darry walked to the chairs and hopped over the railing, landing gracefully on his feet. He looked behind him once before walking up the aisle and peaking into the lobby.

"Hey!" Darry called. Receiving no answer he turned and walked back down the aisle.

Leaning on the railing he surveyed the area once more, trying in vain to make some sense out of what was happening. His brothers crossed his minds. Sodapop and Ponyboy, where were they? Were they okay? Worry began to well up in Darry.

"Soda! Pony!" he called out as loud as he could. He listened. Not a sound. Not even a wisp of wind spoke to him. He looked at the movie screen though he wasn't watching it. His mind was millions of miles away.

"Okay, Darry…just think about this for a moment", he began talking to himself, "You look like you are twenty. The Nightly Double is here. What's missing? There something missing and you can figure out what's missing. Figure that out and then the answers will come. So figure it out, dang it!" Darry went quiet, closing his eyes.

All he could remember was something about crushing. It made no sense to him. Crush what?

"...Darry?"

Said male's eyes popped open at the voice. He looked and found Two-bit grinning at him. Darry's mouth fell open. His eyes travelled. Behind Two-bit was Steve with a light smirk, Johnny with a smile and Dallas with his mouth twitching.

Darry blinked as his mouth closed. He swallowed. 'Okay, just find a rational explanation. There is always one. Use your head, like you used to tell Ponyboy', he thought to himself.

"Um…." Was the sound that came from Darry as the gang that he hadn't seen in years came closer to him.

"You okay, buddy? Process and internalize and while you are at it, breathe.", Two-bit suggested.

"Wasn't aware you knew those words, much less what they meant", snorted Dallas.

"I'm not entirely stupid", Two-bit muttered.

Steve spoke up, his arms crossed. "Coulda fooled me."

"Don't make me jump on you", Two-bit growled at Steve.

"Bring it!" Steve unfolded his arms and held up a fist.

"Both of you cool it!" Dallas barked.

Darry was watching this exchanged with a near unblinking expression. His mouth had fallen open again.

"Ignore them, Darry", Johnny stated softly leaning on the railing next to Darry as the trio behind him kept bickering.

It was a moment before Darry broke his glaze away from the bickering trio and looked at Johnny who smiled at him. "Johnny?" he asked.

"Yea, good to see you again, Darry. It's been a long time."

"You...Aren't you...dead?" Darry questioned uncertainly.

Johnny nodded. "Yea, I am."

Darry pointed in the trio's direction, "And Dallas...he's dead too." It came out a statement.

Johnny nodded.

"Steve and Two-bit had died, I remember that."

Nod.

"So, if you're dead and Dallas has been dead for…20+ years and Steve and Two-bit have been dead for years as well and I can see you…then that means…that means…what does that mean?"

"…" Johnny refused to give Darry that information. By now, the trio had stopped bickering and was watching Darry try to put everything together.

Darry breathed shakily and raised a hand up to run it over his face once. He remembered the crushing feeling. It was returning to him now. Darry was trying so hard to keep his head together.

"Does that mean…does that mean…I'm…dead?", he finally asked. He was staring intently at Johnny.

Johnny nodded slowly. Darry tore his glaze away and looked at the ground, clutching the railing harder, making his knuckles turn white.

"Hey, man…it'll be alright", Johnny murmured laying a hand on Darry's arm.

"This isn't possible. I can't be dead. I can't. I can't just leave Pony and Soda. This will kill them", he murmured, thinking of his brothers. They were all they had. How would they take it if he was indeed dead?

"Sorry…" Two-bit said quietly.

Darry glanced up at the group, looking at each of them. "Ya'll look like when we were younger." He said after awhile. They clearly heard the tears laced in his voice.

Two-bit grinned at him. "And you look like you did when you were twenty."

"I know…I saw in one of the car mirrors. How?"

"Welcome to the afterlife…we got more mysteries then a graveyard." Two-bit cackled.

"I knew he was going to say that. I knew it!" Steve growled.

Dallas shook his head and pushed Steve and Two-bit out the way. "Look, man…we know about as much as the day we all arrived. Buddy, I'm here to tell you…that ain't much."

"Simply put…don't knock it…we don't know. It just…is", Johnny translated.

Darry laughed once then his voice broke. "But…but…it's not that I'm not happy to see you guys, I am…but…what about Pony and Soda?"

Dallas spoke. "They still have life left to live, I guess."

"But….."

"How did you…." Johnny trailed off his question.

Darry knew what the question was and answered with a moan, "A car accident."

"You?" Dallas asked surprised. They all knew that Darry was a good driver.

"Some moron ran a red light speeding. I'd bet he was doing 70-80 in a 25 and hit me." Darry had remember the crushing feeling before everything went dark, "He was over speeding that's for sure. It happened so fast."

"I'm gonna go haunt his behind", Dallas growled. Of all things for his friend to die from, a car accident...that was someone else's fault? No, see, that called for major haunting.

"Good luck with that", Steve stated dryly. Dallas gave him a look.

"Hey, if you do figure out how to haunt him...let me know I want in", Two-bit nodded. Steve and Johnny gave a nod as well.

Darry groaned and took a seat behind him. He dropped his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to die."

"Oh, like we did?" Dallas asked.

"You got no room to talk. You know very well you meant to", Steve shot at Dallas making him become quiet.

Johnny took a seat next to Darry. "Hey, man, it'll be alright. I'm sure Soda and Pony will be okay."

Darry glanced at Johnny, studying him. "You're different." He remarked after awhile had passed.

Johnny gave a smile. "Yeah, well….."

Darry gave a crooked smile. Two-bit dropped into a seat on the other side of Darry, looking at the movie. Silence reigned for awhile. Darry's eyes roved all over not really seeing anything. It just came to him a few minutes ago of why the Nightly Double felt wrong. It had been torn down and replaced with a new and improved theater by the time Darry had died.

Finally Darry let out a long sigh. "The afterlife, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah…it's kinda cool. This is our neighborhood and we run this place. No one here but us and…two more I think you'll be happy to see." Two-bit grinned.

"Yeah, who?" Darry asked lowering his hands to look at the grinning male.

"Your parents", Johnny answered.

Darry's head whipped towards Johnny, his eyes big. "Do not play with me, boy."

"I play with you not."

"Seriously?"

"Deadly, man."

A small smile made it to Darry's face. "It will be great to see them again."

"...So...how old were you before you brought the farm?", Two-bit asked after another moment had gone by.

"64."

"Wow…that's great!" Johnny beamed.

Darry shrugged. "Yeah…it is."

"So I heard…you actually finally went back to college", Dallas drawled leaning on the railing.

Darry gave a short laugh at that. "Yeah, after we put Ponyboy through college he practically made money hand over foot with his writing. He was making some money before he graduated." He looked at Johnny and Dallas. "He made a book about the events leading up to and surrounding your deaths. It really helped to bring the greaser/soc conflict to life. I think that's why it became so popular."

Dallas cocked an eyebrow, "Hoped he mentioned my record." That got a laugh out of everyone while Johnny just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, anyway", Johnny drawled, "So did that help end the conflict? We heard it ended."

Darry nodded. "I believe it helped yes. Ponyboy did really well for himself. I mean, he brought a house in the country and invited us to go with him."

"We heard", said Dallas.

"He really made something out of himself and it was an added bonus he didn't forget about his friends and family." They could hear the pride in Darry's voice.

Johnny smiled, "Ponyboy isn't like that. He could never forget friends and family."

"I know. Then when we were settled he did everything but hold me at gunpoint to get me to go back to school. At first I wasn't going to."

Johnny frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, I was almost 28 when I went back to school. I mean, going for professional ball was near over. But Ponyboy said I should go get my degree just to accomplish what I always wanted. By, then I was interested in construction having worked there all my life. So I entered business and construction. I did end up playing football in college as a hobby." At this Darry grinned. "One of the best times of my life. After graduating, I worked for construction making more money than I did before and finally trying to open a construction business and it took off. Ponyboy actually helped to get the business off the ground."

Johnny smiled. "Wow, that awesome! Congrats for the achievements, then!"

"Thank you, Johnny." Darry smiled before it slowly died away. What would become of his brothers now that he was gone? All they had all their lives were each other and since the gang started dying over the years that bond was tighter than ever.

"I know it's going to be hard not seeing them for quite some time, but we'll all get through it. I'm positive when they die, we'll see them here", Johnny tried to reassure Darry.

Tears glittered in Darry's eyes though he tried to hold it back. "You think?"

"We know", Steve smiled gently. "I mean, me and Two-bit made it here. I see no reason why Soda and Ponyboy won't."

"I just hope they don't do anything stupid and we see them in a few days. You know?" Dallas asked.

Darry nodded. "I know what you mean. Now it's only Sodapop and Ponyboy. I hope they stick together." He looked at Steve. "After your passing, Soda near broke."

"But he didn't." Steve pointed out.

"Cause he had you and Ponyboy", Johnny added.

Darry nodded absently. "Yeah, that probably helped matters. But you know after he came back from Vietnam it took the remaining of the gang at the time to keep him on the straight and narrow."

"Yeah, after helping to get me back on the straight and narrow", Steve added.

"I know. It was tough when Sodapop was called for war. I thought for sure we were all going to just break after that."

"I know."

"But you guys didn't. Ya'll got through it and now most of the gang is here." Johnny spoke up softly, "Although it will be…sad to realize the implication when we see the remaining, I'm sure we'll all be together again. Just like when we were kids. And then we'll have eternity to get tired of each other."

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, guess you are right, Johnnycake", Dallas grinned.

"Hey, you guys ever wonder how or why it is we are all together in this afterlife like this? I mean, even right down to being kids ruling our neighborhood and the surrounding area." Two-bit mused.

Dallas snorted. "I don't know and I'm not gonna try to guess, that's for sure."

"You know", Johnny started thoughtfully after a second, "I'm sure when we see Ponyboy, he could probably come up with a plausible explanation. He's good at that kind of thing."

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, I look forward to the plausible explanation…in the meantime…" Two-bit was cut off by Steve.

"In the meantime…you know we can go over to the West side." Steve said hurriedly. Two-bit growled and glared at him.

Darry frowned. "If this neighborhood is exactly like when we were younger…then the Socs live over there."

"Man, what part of no one else here but us and your parents did you not understand?" Dallas asked.

"Are you serious?" Darry asked.

"Yeah!"

Darry blinked trying to process that. He stood up. "Well, before that…if my parents are here, I want to see them."

"They should be home. They sometimes go on vacation though…." Johnny smiled.

Darry just shook his head as the group made its way out of the Nightly Double. He was nervous about seeing his parents. He was equally nervous about that fact that he was leaving his younger brothers to fend for their selves for the remainder of their time on earth. But Darry would take comfort in thinking he'll see them again. He hoped though that they would live a little while longer and get as much out of life as he had. Until he saw them someday, he would take comfort with his parents and his friends.

**TBC…..**

* * *

A.N: 3 down and 2 to go. =D (I'm sorry but it amuses me to have a countdown at the end of each story, lol)

Sodapop or Ponyboy? Who is second to the last to rejoin the gang? I think it should be fairly easy to figure out the remaining order now. Lol But that is just me.

Sorta a sidenote: Since Darry was probably the only one in the group that was the most in shape and healthy, unless it was old age I don't really see him dying from illness or anything. And since I had a plan on how I thought and wanted the order of deaths to be…..an accident seemed more realistic in my eyes.


	5. Part IV

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: Now we are down to the final 2. Second to the last gang's individual chapter. Enjoy!

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

"Please don't leave me! You're all I have left." A teary voice pleaded.

"You knew that this would happen. It's been so long. Too long. I'm tired. Let me go." A weakened voice murmured.

"NO!"

"Promise me that you won't try to weasel your way out of the remainder of your life, no matter what happens. Promise me, brother."

"Please don't leave me!"

"Promise me."

"I-I-I…I can't. I can't promise that. I'll be alone. Everyone else has gone. You are all I have left. Please. Please, do not ask that of me."

"I have to. Darry has gone and it's my job to look after you. Promise me. For me. For Darry. Please."

There was a small telling silence, then a hiccupping voice pleaded softer, "Promise we'll see each other again?"

There was smile in the weakened voice. "I promise. Me, you and Darry will be together someday…and I think we'd see the others. That would be great." The weakened voice grew softer and softer, "Steve'll be there and Two-bit…we'll see Johnny and Dallas. We haven't seen them since…teen…agers…it'll…be…'ike…'ol…t'mes…."

* * *

"Well, that was a good movie", Dallas yawned, before sucking the straw to his soda.

"I'm still trying to figure out how we can get movies up here", Darry muttered tossing his popcorn bag in a the nearest garbage can. He lightly punched the air when it entered it on the first try.

Dallas looked up from his drink. "The same way we get TV."

"How's that?"

"I dunno! Haven't we made that clear yet? Quite trying to make everything logical. You're killing me with it..."

Darry sighed as Johnny chuckled and Dallas went back to his drink. Darry, Johnny and Dallas had just come from the Nightly Double watching a movie this particular evening. It had been quite some time since Darry had rejoined the group. Time held no meaning here and frankly they all lost track of time.

Johnny stuffed his hand in his jean coat pocket. "So what do you guys want to do now?"

"Uh…." Dallas looked around. "I dunno. Guess we could find where Two-bit and Steve are."

"Didn't they say they were going to hang out on the West side?"

Darry shook his head once. "Those two are obsessed with the Soc's neighborhood."

Two-bit and Steve had been known to spend quite a bit of time over there. Guess they got a kick out of messing up the place or something. Some warped version of their own kind of payback. Darry would never understand. He did enjoy spending time in some of the Soc' house, living large, though. They had even found closets full of Soc's clothes in the houses. Dallas had grinned one day and pulled some out of the closet. He promptly began to shred and burnt some one time.

Truth be told, none of them would be caught dead wearing Soc's clothes.

And yes, the pun was intended.

Darry shivered once as a light filtered into the area. "What the..." he murmured as he squinted his eyes and turned around to see a star light tornado.

"Guess it's that time again", Dallas stated looking at the tornado, sucking the air out of his drink, making sucking noises.

Johnny nodded watching the light. "Yeah….."

Darry looked back at the two of them. "What are you guys talking about? Ya'll don't even look worried. Shouldn't we be worried?"

"When you've been through this X amount of time you get used to it", Dallas answered around his straw.

Darry looked at Johnny with a question in his eyes. Dallas was making no move to explain his words.

"I think you'll see one of your brothers now", Johnny stated softly. Darry sucked in a breath and looked back wide eyed at the light that was slowly fading.

Dallas took a final suck before tossing his empty drink into the garbage. "Looks like it came from the area of the DX."

Darry didn't wait as he took off. Dallas and Johnny exchanged a brief glance before taking off behind Darry.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of town:

"Hey, is that...?" Steve asked looking up at the light quite far away.

"Yeah…I think either Soda or Ponyboy will join us now", Two-bit said looking up at the light.

There was silence between them as they watched it die away. Steve was the first to react. He ran to a mustang and hopped in. "Move it or lose it Two-bit", he called. Two-bit rushed to the passenger's side and slide in. Steve started the car and raced towards where the tornado light was seen.

"Who do you think it'll be?" asked Two-bit.

"I don't want to guess…I just want to find out", Steve answered as he turned a corner. Two-bit nodded in agreement and there was silence for the rest of the trip.

* * *

He moaned and turned over on his side. He snuggled into the warmth that surrounding him and sighed contently. It had been quite some time since he felt such bliss. Something was nagging in the back of his brain though, so slowly he peeled open his eyes. He blinked at the gray in front of him. He didn't know how long he lay staring at it.

Finally he was able to rouse himself enough to begin unfolding himself. He sat up to realize he had been laying in the backseat of a car that had no hood on it. He blinked and looked around.

"The DX", he murmured as his surroundings came into focus and registered. He looked up at the sky.

Now he never graduated high school or even finished for that matter but he was pretty sure that four moons in the sky was not normal. It was pretty in a bizarre way. It would be something that kept his brother occupied for hours that for sure.

A jolt went through him. Something was...off. He was a little slow, he knew but he'd figure it out eventually. Just take it one step at a time, use your head as his older brother would often say. With a grunt he opened the car door and stepped out. He had to grip the door a moment to steady himself before he worked to get the circulation back in his body. Absently he reached up to rub his left shoulder. He blinked when he realized that it wasn't throbbing. Ever since he came back from Vietnam he had always had problem with this shoulder but now it was like he never had a problem.

Sodapop Patrick Curtis blinked and looked at his shoulder. Blue cloth covered it. He blinked again and really looked down at what he was wearing. He had seen this before. It was just taking him a few moments to put things together. But when he did, he gasped. This was the DX outfit he wore as a teenager. Soda jerked his head up and really looked at his surroundings. The DX looked exactly like it did when he was younger. He and Steve since buying the DX had had it updated and remodeled. This wasn't making any sense. He lifted a hand to his hair. Sodapop was slightly surprised to see that his hand came away with grease. He rubbed it off on his pants before touching his face. It felt young. Looking back at the car at car he looked into the side mirror. His 17 year old face was staring back at him. Sodapop's mouth dropped. He was positive such a thing wasn't doable. He remembered being older than 17. He remember going to Vietnam and almost dying. He remembered….

That's when it hit him. He remembered a teary voice begging him not to leave him. Big doe eyes on an old man pleading with him. He remembered being tired…too tired to continue.

He remembered.

Tears welled up on in his eyes as he sunk to his knees, gripping the car. He left Ponyboy. He left his little brother.

Did this mean…he was…dead?

A choking sound came from his throat as reality set in. Somehow he knew…he knew that he was dead. And his brother…..

Oh, God, he left his brother all alone. How could he do such a thing? How? He had to find a way to get back to Ponyboy. They were all they had left. Soda couldn't desert him now. They had been through too much together.

Tears spilt over his cheeks as he welded his eyes shut. Somewhere he was aware of the padding of feet but was too caught up in his grief to look up. A moment later he found strong arms around him. Sodapop tensed but then slowly relaxed as he realized that they were familiar to him. He sniffed and pried open his eyes. Familiar black shirt that stretched over muscles greeted his vision. Sodapop looked up into the teary eyes of a brother who hadn't seen for years. And that brother looked exactly as he did when they were younger.

"Hey, Pepsi-Cola", Darry sniffed.

Sodapop blinked at him, his mouth opening lightly. Then he pushed Darry away from him and darted to his feet, his hands going up into fists.

"Hey, easy…easy…it's me", Darry cooed standing up slowly, his hands up in a surrender position.

"D-D-Darry?" Sodapop asked hesitantly. He lowered his fists slightly. Although he was right in front of him, Sodapop couldn't believe his eyes.

Darry nodded slowly. "Yeah, little buddy, it's me. It's me."

More tears spilt from Sodapop's eyes as he sniffed. "No..no…you are dead. And…you look like when we were younger."

"So do you", came a new yet familiar voice.

Sodapop snapped his head towards the voice to see two friends that had been dead since their childhood. "D-D-Dallas….J-Johnny?" he asked.

Johnny gave a small nod and smiled. "Hey, Soda."

Sodapop shut his eyes briefly before opening them back up. "What's…what's going on? What? How?"

"Sodapop, I know it's hard to believe but we are really here. Believe me, little brother." Darry pleaded softly, silent tears coursing down his cheeks.

Sodapop shook his head. "Darry…if all of you are suppose to be dead…does that mean I'm dead? For real? I was hoping it was a dream." But even as he asked, even as he said it, he knew the truth. He already reached that truth a few minutes ago...yet he felt the need to hear it from someone.

"I'm afraid so buddy."

Sodapop shook his head, his fists lowering even more. "No..no…I can't be dead. What about Ponyboy? He...he'll be alone. I remember him pleading with me not to leave him. I remember him pleading with me…he'll be alone. I can't be here." He sunk to his knees and buried his face in his hands and sobbed.

Darry moved then to Sodapop's side, sinking down and pulling him into a bear hug. Sodapop buried his face in Darry's chest. "What about Pony, Darry? What are we going to do?" he whispered.

"Nothing we can do, little man. We'll have to wait for him to join us", Darry murmured back.

Dallas and Johnny moved to situate themselves next to the two. "It'll be alright", Johnny muttered though his voice as sad.

It was awhile before Sodapop pulled back from Darry slightly and looked at Johnny and Dallas. "Is it really you guys?"

"Live and in the flesh", Dallas grinned.

"You mean dead and in the spirit right?" Darry smirked making Sodapop chuckle.

Dallas just shrugged. "Whatever."

Sodapop sniffed and sat up. "You gonna be okay?" Darry asked releasing his hold on Sodapop but still looked worried.

Sodapop sniffed again and wiped his face and gave a nod. "Yeah…yeah…." His voice cracked as new tears spilled from his eyes. He shut them trying in vain to stop the tears. "N-No…I dunno."

Darry pulled him back into his arms.

"I know it's a lot to take in", Johnny stated placing his hand on Sodapop's shoulder briefly.

"I was okay with it", Dallas spoke up with a lazy nod, propping up a leg and resting his arm over it.

"We all know you were. Your purpose was to get yourself killed", Darry shot back dryly, "Besides we all can't be as tough as you, Dallas."

"Don't be jealous."

"I'm not."

Dallas growled playfully at Darry who wasn't fazed making Sodapop chuckle through his tears. Johnny coughed a laugh. Suddenly an engine could be heard in the distance. A red mustang came into view.

"What the heck?" Sodapop asked watching as it pulled up into the lot.

The first out was Two-bit. He grinned as he got out and ran off to the group. "Sodapop!" He skidded to a halt in front of them and plopped down.

"Two-bit?" Sodapop asked his eye wide.

"Hey, man!" Two-bit was grinning like crazy. Darry and Johnny were laughing at Two-bit's antic's while Dallas rolled his eyes.

"Soda?"

Said male looked up from staring at Two-bit to see his best friend, whom he hadn't seen in years. Steve grinned as he sauntered over and towered over the group. "Good to see you, again."

"S-Steve?"

"See told ya we'd see each other again someday."

Sodapop stared up at Steve his eyes still wide. Finally they began returning to their normal size, as he sniffed. He shut his eyes and willed himself not to cry anymore. But it was fruitless as he lowered his head and more tears came.

"Aw, come on buddy. It'll be alright", Steve said hunkering down next to Sodapop. In a flash he found himself in a hug. Sodapop was hanging onto Steve for dear life. Steve tensed in surprise before he slowly wrapped his arms around Soda. And no, those were not tears glittering his own eyes.

They weren't, okay?

"Okay, seriously…come on guys….." Dallas chided. Suspiciously, his own eyes were wet.

Two-bit looked on the verge of tears, Darry already been had silent tears coursing down his face and Johnny had started his own tears a few moments earlier. Silence reigned for the longest even after Sodapop finally let go of Steve and the group sat gathering themselves back together.

Dallas was the first to break the silence and looked around, his glaze lingering on Sodapop the longest. "Alright…okay…everyone alright now?"

The group nodded and all shifted to get their coolness flow back as various versions of yeah was said.

"Alright…so…what's the story?" Two-bit asked.

Dallas nodded. "Yeah?"

"Heard, you went to Vietnam." Johnny stated.

Sodapop gave a breathy chuckle. "Yeah…that…that….that was horrible. I thought I was gonna die a few times over there. In fact, I'm a little surprise I made it through."

"Really?" Dallas asked.

Sodapop sighed. "Yeah, I…I got shot in my left arm." Absently he reached up to caress it. "If the bullet had been an inch or two down it would have pierced my heart and I would have been dead on the spot. I did die but they were able to revive me, they say."

"I thanked God you survived", Darry murmured his eyes lost in memory.

"Yeah", Steve agreed lost in his own memory of trying to survive when his best friend was called.

"That wound, stayed with me for life. My shoulder never did get completely well." Sodapop added.

"And…what happened…after I died?" Darry asked slowly.

Sodapop's eyes got a far away look. "It…It wasn't easy. I was…68 when I died."

"You lived another…." Darry paused to do calculations, "7 years."

Sodapop nodded. "Just about, yea. It…It wasn't easy after your death, Darry. It was just only me and Ponyboy. When we heard that you died in a car accident...we were stunned. That…that…" he paused his eyes smoldering before calling every name in the book.

Dallas whistled. "Nice, man."

"Well, he deserves it. I mean he was 22 years old running away from the cops."

Johnny frowned. "Why?"

"Who cares?" Sodapop cried, "The fact of the matter is that the moron walked away from that. Well, technically he didn't. He was shipped to the hospital and survived. He was charged later. He got life behind that. That man got off easy. But no matter what they did to him, it wouldn't bring back Darry and me and Pony had to live with that. I mean both our parents and our older brother dies in a car accident. How cursed do we need to be?"

Darry threw an arm around Sodapop's shoulders as Sodapop shook with rage and sorrow at the memory. "Ponyboy and I near cracked. But in the end I held it together best I could, because I knew that is what Darry would have wanted and what our parents would have wanted. Ponyboy and I stuck together after that. I moved back into Pony's country house so neither of us would be alone."

"You weren't working at the DX? We got an apartment not far. What happened to that?" Steve asked.

Sodapop glanced at him. "After you died, I worked at the DX for awhile…but I couldn't maintain it on my own and I didn't…I didn't feel like working on cars anymore. You weren't there to work with me and I lost interest. I sold the DX a couple of years after your death."

"You became ill too", Darry murmured remembering the rough time when Sodapop became sick.

"I know. My shoulder started acting up more and I found I couldn't do the work anymore. And I didn't want to live in the apartment myself so I moved in with Darry. After I got a little better I did some work for Darry with filing stuff at his construction company."

"You never told us, Sodapop worked for you at one time", Two-bit said hitting Darry on the arm.

Darry shrugged. "Must of have slipped my mind." Then he asked, "What happened to my company after I died?"

"Well, Joseph took over." Sodapop answered.

Darry smiled and nodded obviously approving the decision.

"Who was Joseph?" Dallas asked.

"He and I graduated college together. He was in the construction business as well. When I tried to get my business of the ground, Joseph agreed to come and work for me. He was one of my first employees. He'll do the company justice."

Sodapop smiled lightly. "He continued to check up on us after you died."

"And Ponyboy…what did he do?" Darry asked.

"He was still writing as usual but stopped working on his newest book after your death. Ponyboy was okay. I made sure he stayed okay for the most part. He got a little depressed after your death, we both did. Pony never got that book published as far I know."

Sodapop paused before continuing, "But then a year before I died, I became extremely sick and tired", his voice cracked, "I was just tired. I tried to be strong, Darry, but I couldn't anymore. You were gone…Steve was gone…everyone was gone but Ponyboy. I loved Ponyboy but I think a part of me was ready to go. I tried to fight it but I couldn't…I just couldn't. I'm sorry Darry, please don't be mad."

Darry gave him a firm sideways hug, his arm never having left Soda's shoulder. "I'm not mad."

"I didn't want to leave but I just couldn't live anymore. I was so ill and wasn't getting any better. If possible I was getting steadily worse. I can't believe I was so selfish to leave Ponyboy all alone!"

"I don't think we had a real choice in when we died", Darry murmured then paused and looked at Dallas, "Except maybe Dallas."

Dallas blew out a breath. "Are you people ever gonna let it go?"

There was a collective no. Dallas rolled his eyes, muttering and laid down on his back closing his eyes. A short laugh from everyone followed, then silence.

"So…." Johnny finally drawled, "Ponyboy is the last of us now."

"Yea", Darry muttered absently.

"Somehow it fits that he should be the last to come and last to go", Two-bit stated.

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, so the next time we see the light…it'll probably be Ponyboy huh?"

Everyone agreed though Darry had to give Sodapop a brief explanation of what the light was and became lost in their thoughts. A part of all of them, yes even Steve, were excited that perhaps the next time, they'd be able to welcome Ponyboy into their afterlife gang yet another part was sad to realize that when they do, life on earth for him would end. They all looked forward to it though.

"Oh, yea, I almost forgot to say", Two-bit spoke up, breaking the thoughtful silence, with a grin breaking out on his face.

"What?" Sodapop asked just as Steve placed his face in his hand and muttered 'Oh, no' under his breath.

"Welcome to the afterlife...we got more mysteries then a graveyard", Two-bit cackled through snickers.

Sodapop blinked as Steve started rubbing his temple, watching as Two-bit fell out laughing. He looked at Darry who gave him a 'don't ask' look while Dallas and Johnny looked at Two-bit with a dry look. None of them knew why Two-bit thought the saying was so funny. Sodapop had to grin and chuckle at seeing Two-bit so tickled by it but for the rest of the gang it lost it's charm ages ago. As Two-bit began to settled down, Sodapop began glazing around.

"Hey...what's up with the red mustang ya'll?" he asked his eyes landing on the vehicle.

At this Steve turned to Sodapop with a grin at his question. "Boy, are you in for a treat."

Two-bit picked up on the excitement. "Let me tell you what's what."

"Before that…our parents are here by the way", Darry stated.

Sodapop's eyes widen. "Seriously?" Darry smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, they are, but seriously…the money is the West side…" Steve answered.

Sodapop smiled lightly as Two-bit and Steve took turns telling their newest member what the workings of the afterlife were like. He admitted he was half paying attention, his thoughts on his youngest brother he left behind. He hoped that Ponyboy would be strong enough to do what he could not do and live longer. Sodapop still felt sad that he left Ponyboy alone. He didn't mean to but he just didn't have any more strength to live.

Sodapop found himself looking up at the sky. 'I hope to see you soon, Ponyboy…but hopefully not too soon.'

**TBC….**

* * *

A.N: Aww, no more countdown now. :( Ponyboy will be up next (obviously)….

Side note: I have heard the rumor that Soda dies in Vietnam but for all intents and purposes since it wasn't officially recorded to my knowledge; guess what I don't fly that way. The gang has lost enough and I don't see how the gang could continue long with that kind of blow. No, seriously, how many thinks that if Soda dies that those remaining wouldn't be far behind him? The dominos fall to fast if Soda dies…..

So, while I did use Soda goes to 'Nam I have it that he survives. Actually that's the only way in my book that he goes to 'Nam…he goes (maybe almost gets killed like he said in this story) but comes back and life goes on.

Besides, it's way too depressing to do that to poor Soda (and the others too). Haven't they been through enough? SE, are you trying to kill off all your characters before 30?


	6. Part V

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do.

A.N: The long awaited(I'm guessing) Ponyboy's chapter! Even I have looked forward to writing this chap. Since we are down to the last man, this is written a little different than the other gang's chapter.

Btw, this story is almost done, yep. This is the second to the last chapter. Next will be the epilogue. Enjoy!

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

Everyone has gone.

My brothers Sodapop and Darry; my best friend Johnny had been gone. Dallas, Two-bit even Steve…I miss all of them.

I managed to outlive everyone. Everyone I ever knew and loved are gone and now I'm alone.

Somehow, I figured that I'd be the last to die.

I dunno, I just had that sense.

Honestly?

I think lived this long because I made a promise to Johnny. I made one to Sodapop just before he went peacefully in his sleep muttering that we all would be together someday.

But even now that I lay here, I want to go to.

I want to see my brothers again.

I want to hear Darry tell me to use my head. Even as I got older he always reminded me to do so, even though he and I knew I greatly improved…even if I was living in the clouds half the time. Well, since I got paid to live in the clouds Darry was all for it then.

I want to see Sodapop give that contagious grin and I want to eat his green pancakes. Even after all these years and all he had seen and done he never improved his cooking. Said we still needed some life in the kitchen. Apparently over in Vietnam, they bored him with the cooking cause when he came back and would cook everything would be rainbow colors. No seriously, I remember when he cooked dinner for the first time after he got back, we ended with a purplish turkey, the greens were red, the rice green and the bread was blue-ish. Sodapop went all out. How that happened, even as I lay here I still can't figure out. We did learned to hide some of the food dye so he didn't go so crazy.

I want to see my best friend again. I want to talk to Johnny. I could always talk to Johnny about things I couldn't talk to the others about. He knew and understood where I was coming from. He was a great listener. The best friend I ever had. I never did find another good friend like Johnny Cade.

I want to see Dallas give that cocky grin. I want to hear Two-bit's raucous laugh. The man could somehow find an ant funny. How he did it, I have no idea, but I miss it. I'd even give anything to see Steve. Sure we improved over the years, but we still couldn't stand each other. He always thought I was a smarty. Just to hear him call me a smart aleck would make me smile.

I miss them a lot. I want to see them. Please let me see them, if only for the last time. As my eyes flutter and blur and I would swear in front of me I saw the gang as we used to be in our childhood. I see Johnny smile at me, his eyes sparkling yet sad. I see Dallas give his cocky grin. Two-bit gave a short wave also grinning. Even Steve is smiling at me. I see Darry and Sodapop both grin and beckon me to them.

My eyes lower and close.

The last thing I hear in the distance is a monotone continuous note.

* * *

Ponyboy Michael Curtis groaned and shifted, his head rocking back and forth.

"Take it easy…easy…" came a soft cooing voice.

Ponyboy mumbled under this breath and rocked his head to one side. "Hmm…five more minutes….."

He heard what sounded like laugh and various chuckles.

"Well, technically we got all day and then some buddy", another voice laughed.

Ponyboy frowned. He felt he had heard such a voice sometime but he didn't know who it was. He shifted his head to face upwards and slowly opened his eyes. He stared blankly.

"Hey, Ponyboy…..you okay?"

Ponyboy blinked and shifted his eyes to the source. It was a moment before he could think and register, "D-D-Darry?" he asked having to clear his throat.

"Yeah, Lil' Colt, it's me", said male smiled once. Ponyboy stared in almost awe at the man he hadn't seen in years. It couldn't be…he was trying to rationalize everything but his brain was all jumbled.

A soft voice broke his jumbled thoughts. "Pony?"

Ponyboy turned and looked over at the other side of him. He realized that he was currently lying down. He blinked then murmured, "Soda...pop?"

Sodapop's mouth trembled as his eyes went wet at hearing his name from his younger brother's mouth, "Yeah, it's me."

Ponyboy looked back and forth between the two of his brothers whom he hadn't seen for years. And he hadn't seen them like they were since they were kids. Still he kept trying to rationalize what was happening. What was happening? He couldn't remember.

He remembered something...sleeping?

He was sleeping?

Loneliness?

He remembered that he was alone. He remembered the intense feeling of being alone.

Ponyboy shut his eyes, as tears sprang forth. "Oh God…what…I…." he couldn't form a coherent thought much less a sentence. His hands flew up to his face and he buried it in them.

"Ponyboy….." Darry drawled.

"I must be dreaming or something", Ponyboy cried, "This can't be real. It can't!"

"But it is, Ponyboy. It is", Sodapop murmured his voice cracking once.

Ponyboy lowered his hands and looked at the two. "If…but…you two are dead! I remember. You two are dead. It's not possible."

"I know."

"So if you two are dead, then that means…I….." Ponyboy paused as something hit him.

He remembered being tired…he remembered that he wanted to go. He wanted to see his family and friends again. He remembered… "Does that mean, I'm….." Pony couldn't bring himself to finish his thought.

"Yeah….." Sodapop answered the unspoken question.

Ponyboy stared at the two of them for the longest time.

"Pony?" Darry asked worry filtering into his voice.

It was a bit before, to the surprise of both Darry and Sodapop, Ponyboy shut his eyes and started muttering, "Oh…thank you…thank you..… "

Darry and Sodapop exchanged worried glances at their brother's behavior. "Pony?" Darry asked cautiously placing a hand on Ponyboy's arm. Ponyboy's thankfulness gave away to sobbing.

"Ponyboy…come on man…you're scaring us", Sodapop begged.

Ponyboy brought his hands back to his face. His voice was muffled. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…."

"What are you apologizing for?" came a soft voice.

Ponyboy's eyes popped open at this new voice as he tore his hands away from face. That voice was so familiar. One he hadn't heard in years, but never forgot. He looked and found Johnny Cade, who was sitting next to Darry looking worriedly at him yet he smiled at him when Pony looked at him. Ponyboy stared at his friend for the longest before he made his eyes move around to find that Dallas was sitting next to Johnny. Dallas gave him a cocky grin when Ponyboy's glaze settled on him. On the other side of Ponyboy next to Sodapop sat Steve who gave him a nod followed by Two-bit who had a small smile on his face. Ponyboy stared at each in turn before his face crumpled and he shut his eyes and went back to sobbing.

"All of ya'll are here?" he asked through his tears.

"I don't know about anyone else but I know I am", Two-bit answered. He was glad it got a chuckle from Ponyboy.

"So, if I'm dead and all of ya'll are dead…does that mean I made it? I made it?"

"Yea, you did, little man. You made it", Darry answered.

"...I'm sorry!"

"Why do you keep apologizing?" Sodapop asked.

"...I…I tried. I tried to live after all ya'll died, but I couldn't anymore. I couldn't live anymore. I just couldn't. I tried so hard."

Darry pulled Ponyboy up and into a tight hug at this. Sodapop leaned his head on Ponyboy's back.

"Shhh, calm down. It's alright. It'll be alright", Darry cooed, "You made it. We all did. We are all back together. We are so proud of you for living your life. It'll be okay."

"Darry's right, Pony. We are all here now. We're together again. It'll be okay now", Sodapop's voice broke.

Ponyboy pulled out of Darry's arm and quickly latched onto Johnny. "It's been so long! I missed you!" he cried.

"Hey, it'll be alright", Johnny murmured, sniffing and returning the hug. "It's alright."

"I always remembered your words, Johnny. I never forgot. Never. I always tried to live like you would want me to. I always tried to stay gold. I even kept your letter you gave me."

Johnny let out a small smile at this. "I'm proud of you Ponyboy. You did good."

"Aw….come on, come on….." Dallas muttered as he kept blinking his eyes and scratching his cheek, "We got emotional when Sodapop came, we gotta get emotional again? What is with you Curtis' and being emotional? I'm telling ya…. "

Two-bit sniffed. "Yeah, Dal's right. Ya'll gonna make me cry or something."

Steve's eyes were red. "You better not."

Ponyboy pulled back and turned to Dallas. Dallas leaned back away from Ponyboy and held up his hand. "I refuse to let you hug me."

Ponyboy sniffed and gave a teary smile before darting forward and throwing his arms around Dallas anyway.

Dallas grunted. "Yeah…yea…." He relented and gave Ponyboy a couple of pats on the back. This earned a group chuckle.

"Don't I get hug?" Two-bit asked with a little whine. That made Ponyboy smile and promptly latch onto Two-bit. Two-bit hugged Ponyboy tight. He had missed the little man.

"Doesn't Steve get a hug?" Sodapop grinned through his tears. Darry had silent tears running down his face as he chuckled.

Said male glared at his best friend. "Did Steve ask for one?"

"No, he didn't", Sodapop answered.

Steve snorted. "Then don't offer for Steve."

"Why are you speaking of yourself in third person?" Ponyboy asked pulling away from Two-bit.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Third person?"

Ponyboy nodded an arm still around Two-bit. Two-bit was trying to stifle a laugh. Ponyboy's own mouth twitched in amusement as he explained, "Yeah, when you speak your name like that in reference to yourself that is speaking in third person."

Steve twitched once before rolling his eyes and glancing at Sodapop before speaking, "He's a smart aleck kid."

Ponyboy grinned and Steve groaned as said male threw his arms around him. "And clingy too", Steve added good naturally. He finally gave up and gave him a quick hug before pushing him back. "Alright, alright, get off me now. You ran out your minutes."

"You didn't even last a minute let alone minutes", Two-bit snickered.

"Alright, fine then, he ran out his seconds…better?"

Both Darry and Sodapop reached for Ponyboy and drew him into a hug. By now, Ponyboy was calming down though there was an occasional sniffle from him. Silence drifted between the group for awhile except the occasional sniffle here and there.

Dallas cleared his throat finally breaking the silence. "Okay, if we can move this along…it would be greatly appreciated."

"I can't believe we are all together now", Johnny said in awe shaking his head. It would take him some time to come to grips with that reality.

"Believe it", Two-bit grinned.

"We all made it", Sodapop whooped pulling away from his brothers. Darry was slower to release Ponyboy who sat back wiping his tear tracked face.

Ponyboy chuckled and looked around the group before asking, "I just gotta ask…how is it ya'll look as you did when we were kids?" He looked around. "And we are in the lot? It looks like the lot in our old neighborhood we had when we were younger."

Steve snorted. "Who knows and it is. You look like you were when you were 14-ish you know?"

Ponyboy blinked and looked down at himself. He was even wearing his navy blue sleeveless shirt and jeans. He really touched his face and then his hair. It was greased up. He even looked as scrawny as he did back then.

"You look exactly as you did then", Johnny smiled.

"Wow, I see that….and the lot?"

"Replica of our neighborhood and we are the only people here." Two-bit grinned.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Sodapop started bouncing up and down.

"Settle down, Soda!" Steve snapped jumping a little at his friend's outburst.

"What?" Ponyboy grinned at Sodapop's hyper-ness.

"Our parents are here!"

"No way!"

"Way!"

Steve shook his head while Dallas rolled his eyes at their antics and the rest chuckled. After the excitement died down, Two-bit spoke. "Okay…start talking…give us the story."

Sodapop nodded, "Yeah, what did you do after….." he trailed off and lowered his glaze, guilt clouding his eyes.

"After you died?" Ponyboy supplied quietly lowering his own glaze.

"I'm sorry, Pony. I really tried", Sodapop glanced up at Ponyboy who wasn't looking at him, "Please, understand, I did, I tried my mightest…but I got tired and…..and…I…I just couldn't anymore." His voice quieted as he re-lowered his glaze, "I just couldn't." Sodapop always felt guilty that he had left Ponyboy. He had been rather depressed for awhile after he came to the afterlife. Sodapop blinked as he found a set of arms around him and looked up at his younger brother.

Ponyboy gave him a gentle smile. "I know. You don't have to be sorry. I knew as well as you it was your time to go. As much as I begged and pleaded I knew it was hopeless. I was selfish and didn't want you to go and for me to be alone. If anyone should apologize, it should be me."

"Pony, you don't have to apologize. There is no reason for you to. I never meant to leave you, Pony. I hope you believe that much."

"I do."

Dallas groaned. "Look if ya'll are gonna 'soap opera drama' this a moment longer, I'm outta here. I had as much as I could take."

"I gotta agree with Dallas now", Steve nodded.

Ponyboy and Sodapop both chuckled though Ponyboy didn't remove his arms. "Alright already….." Ponyboy drawled.

"Thank you", Dallas muttered.

Darry spoke up. "So, how about continuing…what happened?"

Ponyboy removed his arms from Sodapop's shoulders. "Well, it wasn't easy that's for sure. I uh…didn't do much after Soda died. I actually had to stay in the hospital for the next couple of days. They said I passed out or something…I can't really remember what happened after I watched Soda go."

"Oh, Pony…." Sodapop murmured.

"But somehow I got through it…I managed to get well. I continued to live in the country house though it was very lonely there. I had a few collages and well-wishers that checked in on me once in awhile. The first night I spent alone in that house...heh...yea..."

"That bad?" Darry asked softly.

"It was when I awoke and started yelling for Sodapop to get up...then I realized that he really was gone and…I broke down. I think a part of me after I got out of the hospital tried to convince myself that he wasn't gone. But when I woke up that morning…reality sunk back in and I realize for good that he was gone. I was pretty much a zombie the next few weeks. I couldn't even write anymore. Not even newspaper columns. I just didn't have it in me anymore. But eventually…about a year after Soda died, I managed to finish the book I stopped working on when Darry died and oh yeah and also started and finished another one. That's was about it."

"Well, gee don't put too much effort in…you might save the world next or something", Two-bit quipped.

Everyone laughed. "No but seriously….." Ponyboy stated after the laughter died down, "For awhile…..I didn't do so hot. I kept getting sick on and off there for a bit….I was depressed, I guess. Reason why I didn't feel like writing. I mean literally, I couldn't write. Everyone was gone, I was literally alone. I admit…there were times…I really really wanted to weasel my way out of life."

"But you obviously didn't", Johnny murmured softly.

Ponyboy shook his head, "No, I couldn't, cause every time I even thought about it for any serious amount of time, I would remember Soda. I would even remember you Johnny. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't keep the promises I made to both of you. So after about a year of depression and barely living I decided to shape up and I try. If for nothing else then for you guys. So I tried to get back to writing…and like I said for awhile, absolutely nothing changed. Then one day I woke up and was able to start writing again. I remembered all ya'll. I used ya'll death as a momentum for my last book. It turned out to be a final chapter of our lives if you will."

"And I'm sure everyone loved it", Darry smiled.

"Yeah...it became a big hit. Ah, I almost forgot!" Ponyboy snapped his fingers, "You know my English assignment that became a book later...last I knew they were making it into a movie."

"No way!" Two-bit cried with a little bounce.

Ponyboy nodded. "Yeah, they were in the process of casting the actors when I got really sick...again. I had just published the last book about half a year ago and I found after I did, I started running out of stamina. I had to stay in the hospital for a couple of weeks." His eyes became far away, "It was rough. I had well wishers from collages and fans. I mean, my room was littered with cards and flowers but it wasn't the same as having family and friends that would come and visit. It was…really lonely. Then one day I died. And frankly, I wanted too. I wanted to see you guys again. I tried but laying there, I was so tired and I didn't want to anymore. What's more, I couldn't."

"Oh, Pony", Darry murmured his eyes sad, "I'm sorry that we weren't there anymore." The rest of the gang had akin to solemn looks on their faces as well.

Ponyboy gave a small quivering smile. "It's okay…I mean we are together now right? So it doesn't matter much anymore."

"Of course it does...you were alone", Sodapop hated the thought of his brother dying with no one around. When the rest of the gang died, even Johnny and Dallas in a way, had the others around to see them off. Ponyboy didn't have that comfort. The thought was enough to make Sodapop sick.

"Soda…don't get mushy on me again. I survived it. It's fine."

"Calm down buddy", Steve added, seeing that Soda was starting to look a little green and depressed.

"So, how old did you live to be?" Johnny asked after a moment had passed and everyone was able to re-gather themselves.

Ponyboy looked guiltily at Sodapop. He always felt guilty that he couldn't live longer. He knew that his brothers wanted him to live a full life and he tried to honor that until his dying breath.

Sodapop saw this look and said softly, "I'm not gonna be mad. You did good. I'm proud of you, however long you lived."

Ponyboy let out a small sigh. "I was...76-ish."

Sodapop did a double take then started spreading his fingers trying to do the calculations. That seemed like a long time after he left. The gang looked between each other. That seemed a reasonable age to die to them. Darry had been looking at the sky doing mental calculations and was faster then Sodapop who was still counting as he reached over and wacked Pony upside the head. Sodapop looked up his fingers still spread. That had messed up his counting.

"Ow, what was that for, Darry?" Ponyboy mumbled rubbing his head.

"You lived 11 years after Soda died!" Darry cried then added, "That's good!"

"What? Ponyboy that's great!" Sodapop had just reached that conclusion himself and threw his arms around Ponyboy.

"Yeah, well, I tried." Said male muttered.

"Pony...you kept your promise to me and I thank you for that. You lasted so much longer than I would have if I had lost you."

Ponyboy gave a small smile as Sodapop released him and gave him a playful slap on the back.

"Good grief, you are guilty because you didn't live any longer than 11 years by yourself? Shoot, kid, that's…that's amazing", Dallas cried. Even he had to give Ponyboy credit for that.

"Yeah…coming from the guy who didn't last 24 hours", Steve said dryly.

Dallas raised his hand to slap Steve and Steve instinctively raised his hands and ducked his head. Dallas growled and pointed a warning finger at Steve, who grinned. Chuckles spread throughout the group.

Johnny tried to stiffle his chuckle. "Come on, guys…lay off Dal, will you?" he requested.

Steve shrugged. "Hey, I'm just saying, Johnny."

"You know, Ponyboy if you tried any harder and you might have made it to 100 years old. I mean, living without any of us for 11 years? I got a metal I'll give you", Two-bit said with a grin.

Ponyboy raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"No...no not really. But I'll get you a metal if you want."

Ponyboy rolled his eyes as Johnny spoke up, "Anyway, living that long…that's something to be mighty proud of!" Ponyboy blushed lightly as everyone became lost in their own thoughts.

"Whoo...wow..." Dallas drawled with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Two-bit picked up.

"Hmm", Darry hummed while Steve nodded absently.

Sodapop couldn't help but whooped again. "We are all together again!"

"I'm still working through that", Johnny admitted.

Ponyboy threw an arm around Johnny who smiled at him. "Well, we'll have an eternity to work through it." He said.

"You know…why do you think we all ended up in this afterlife together, looking like we did when we were kids in the excat same neighborhood and surrounding area?" Two-bit repeated the question he had for quite some time.

"Yeah, we figured you might be able to come up with a plausible explanation, Pony", Johnny said looking at his friend.

Ponyboy looked thoughtful. "Hm…I'll let you know when something hits me."

"He got his first challenge of the afterlife", Darry gave grin.

"Which reminds me…." Two-bit was grinning ear to ear, "Ponyboy..."

Everyone let out a groan, but Ponyboy, who was confused by this action and Sodapop who chuckled. For Sodapop the charm wasn't lost yet.

Steve glared and hissed, "You say it…you die."

"But, um…we're already dead." Ponyboy pointed out although he didn't have any idea what Steve was referring to.

"You shut up. I didn't ask your opinion." Steve shot back. Ponyboy stuck his tongue out at Steve making him mutter and glare at him.

Two-bit was not deterred, "Anyway, Ponyboy, welcome to the afterlife…we got more mysteries then a graveyard." he laughed. This promptly led him and Steve to get into a wrestling match. Dallas was shaking his head and sighing while everyone else laughed and watch Steve and Two-bit wrestle while trading insults.

"Why do you always say that?" Steve yelled.

"Cause it's hilarious!" Two-bit laughed.

"No it isn't!"

"Yeah, it is! It gets me everytime!"

"Oh, you'll get something alright..."

Ponyboy laughed. He couldn't believe that this was it. That he was back with his friends and family. It had seem so long to him. He was so glad to see his brothers, to hear Two-bit's laugh, to listen to Steve's insults, to see Dallas cocky grin and Johnny's understanding glaze. Two-bit did pose an interesting question that he would work to find an answer for. It as a good question, but for now he would enjoy this time.

"Pile on!" Sodapop said suddenly.

Everyone laughed and dove onto Two-bit and Steve's wrestling match. Ponyboy pulled Johnny into it, who was reluctant but went with a small laugh. Dallas had scooted back and sighed once more having no intention of getting involved until someone had pulled him into it. He growled and went with the flow. Ponyboy laughed as somehow this led to Dallas and Steve chasing Two-bit down the street.

It was good to be back together.

**TBC….**

* * *

A.N: Whooo! Wow, I finished all the gang…next and finally the epilogue to this story. I'm a little sad…. :(


	7. Epilogue

Disclaimer: SE Hinton has ownage of characters. Francis Ford Coppala probably has more of a right then I do. Also do not own Conjure One's song Extraordinary Way.

A.N: And now, the conclusion of this story. Awww...

I want to thank everyone for the comments/favs on this story. I looked forward to reading all the comments. They were such fun to see everyone's logic at finding the order of deaths.

And without further ado, please enjoy the epilogue!

Summary: Spin-off of Crossfire in the sky. One by one, the remaining gang dies and joins Dallas and Johnny.

* * *

"Beautiful isn't it?" Johnny asked lazily.

Ponyboy gave a content sigh. "Yeah…it's a sight that never gets old. Especially when it's night, like now…it's…breathtaking."

Johnny and Ponyboy were laying on the lawn of their country house looking up that sky. Every since Johnny had shown Ponyboy the sky, there was no tearing him away from it. As Johnny thought, Ponyboy would be able to appreciate the sight. The gang had decided to take a country trip…though Dallas had to convince more than the others. He still stuck with the fact that the country was out of it. But eventually they all saddled up in two mustangs and took off.

Steve drove one accompanied by Sodapop and Two-bit while Dallas drove the other with Darry, Johnny and Ponyboy. Ponyboy was amazed that they could do whatever they wanted on the West side where the Socs neighborhood was. They had taken him once and showed him the sights. Two-bit and Steve ended up snatching a mustang each and claiming it theirs. They loved riding around in them, just for the sheer fun of it. Again, some warped form of payback in their eyes. Ponyboy still didn't understand it. They wouldn't wear the Soc's clothes, none of them would, but they had no problem taking the mustangs and other misc items.

"It's the principle of the matter, Ponyboy", Two-bit said once, "Why would I want to wear what those Socs wore? Granted the greaser/soc conflicted ended long ago and I was okay with that…but it's the principle of the matter. I'll take their stuff but wearing their clothes is too much like them. I was born a greaser and though the conflict ended, I still had my pride."

Ponyboy silently agreed. Even when he got older, he wore nicer clothes but refused to wear madras and clothes that looked too much like what the Soc's worse. It brought back memories he rather not have hanging in his head at every turn. It amused him to this day what Two-bit said. He wasn't even aware that Two-bit even knew the word principle much less how to use it.

Ponyboy let out a snicker making Johnny looked at him curiously. "What's so funny?"

"I was thinking about what Two-bit said that day about the principle of it all", Ponyboy laughed then.

Johnny chuckled. "Yeah, that was funny. He looked so…so…"

"Educated?"

"You said it not me."

Ponyboy chuckled and closed his eyes. He had been here for quite some time, though he had lost track of how much time. Time here held no meaning. He dozed a little. Even in all the time he had been here already he was no closer to answering Two-bit question then the day it was asked. It was a challenge and a puzzle and Ponyboy aimed to find a plausible answer. He opened his eyes and looked up at the moons again.

Why would they all end up together like this? Even his parents were here. Why? Was there something special in all of them?

He near laughed. That depended on what you called special. Granted, Ponyboy thought they were all special. Sometimes he thought all of them were born in the wrong time and if given the chance they could have all been somebody…but then again if they weren't born greasers they might not have been as close as they were.

And then it hit Ponyboy.

Just smack dab in the face.

WACK!

Ponyboy sat up so quickly that it alarmed Johnny. "Hey, man, what's wrong?" Johnny asked concerned.

"I figured it out! I just figured it out!"

"What?"

Ponyboy grinned crazily at Johnny who was confused and a little scared. Ponyboy stood quickly and took off. "Come on, Johnny. Let's go."

Johnny scrambled after Ponyboy as he ran back to the house. Johnny was barely able to keep up with him as they got to the back porch where everyone was hanging out.

Steve, Sodapop and Dallas were involved in a poker game. Two-bit had dragged the TV out and was watching it. Darry sat in a chair reading a paper. They all looked up when Ponyboy came.

"You alright?" Darry asked lowering his paper.

Ponyboy nodded and took a seat on the steps. Johnny sat beside him.

"Yeah, listen, I just figured out a plausible explanation for Two-bit's question."

He had everyone's immediate attention. He didn't even have to qualify what question.

"Well? What did you come up with, Ponyboy?" Two-bit asked.

Ponyboy gave a grin. "You guys ever wonder what it would have been like if all of us had been born in another time?"

"Uh...no", Dallas answered with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Confusion masked everyone else's expression as well.

Ponyboy rolled his eyes. "Okay, work with me here...do you guys think if we had been born in another time we would all be friends like we are."

"Yeah!" Sodapop was quick to answer.

Ponyboy opened his mouth and paused for effect before answering, "No. It's possible we could have been but it's equally possible that we would not have been. Even if you, Darry and I had been brothers in another time, it is not certain we would be as close as we are."

Sodapop shifted uncomfortably at the thought. "Well, what makes you think that", Darry asked. The thought of them not being close friends with the others and close brothers with his brothers did not sit well with him.

"Well, I'm not saying that we wouldn't be close brothers or even close friends but there is that possibility we wouldn't have. I mean we were born during the greaser/soc conflict and that strengthen our friendship. It's not the whole reason we are all friends, I should hope, but I would say that it's a deciding and perhaps starting factor."

"Hhhhuh?" Two-bit grunted out.

"I'm lost..." Dallas muttered rubbing his temple.

"I think we all are..." Steve shook own his head.

"Ponyboy...what are you saying excatly?" Johnny asked with furrowed eyebrows, trying hard to understand what Ponyboy was getting at.

Ponyboy sighed once. Guess he would have to approach this differently, "Okay...let's assume for a moment that we were all born in another time...without greaser/soc conflict. Let's assume we all lived in the same neighborhood", he posed the situation. Looking around the group he had everyone seemingly on track, "Now, chances are since were weren't getting beat up by the Socs at every turn we probably wouldn't have to look out for each other as we did. At this we can all agree with that right?"

Reluctantly, they all agreed.

"Okay, right there is a small rift we have. Now, let's assume...our home situations were the same. Police/social work and all that improved over the years. Some of you can give it that, those that lived that long."

Everyone minus Dallas and Johnny gave an affirmation answer.

Ponyboy continued, "Chances are, someone would have called the authorities out on our home lives. If you remember laws were passed, people began to care a little bit more. If Johnny had walked in like he did one day in another life...he would have been taken from his parents and put someplace safe so fast, it would make your head spin."

Johnny looked a little surprised at that. Darry nodded and looked at Johnny, "It's true. They didn't play as time went on. They became more watchful."

"Excatly", Ponyboy pressed getting excited as he looked around the group, "That just took care of half of us. Johnny would be someplace safe, Steve would have probably been shifted off as well and Dallas wouldn't have lasted two minutes before he was put somewhere as well."

Sodapop and Steve exchanged glances. They couldn't imagine not being friends. From the cradle to the grave was their promise. If they had known, they probably would have said, from the cradle to the afterlife.

"If our parents died in another time, Darry", at this Ponyboy looked at said male, "I highly doubt you would have had an easy time keeping us, if they would have even let you. You would have went to college eariler and I probably would be in a home somewhere along with Sodapop who would have mostly likely finished school."

Dallas snickered. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, they changed the age to 18 when you could drop out over the years", Sodapop nodded.

"By then, you'd almost be graduating if not already", Johnny muttered.

"Excatly, that was the point, Johnnycake", Ponyboy nodded, "And they would have gotten Sodapop some help in school if he was doing so poorly. I doubt they would have let him go so easily. And then times changed and you had to get a decent education to get anywhere and a decent job to pay for things."

At this Darry blew air out of his mouth, while Sodapop, Steve and Two-bit muttered agreements.

"That bad?" Dallas asked.

"Things cost much more money." Ponyboy added with a nod.

Darry snorted. "Don't tell me. I remember."

"Was it really that bad?" Johnny asked wide eyed.

"Well, you could get a coke for 5 cents and over the years that went up. Last I checked it was a dollar sometimes more", Darry shook his head. When he was older, even after his company did well, he still didn't live large. He learned the value of a dollar early on. Darry flat out refused to waste even a mere dime. Not after he had to work so hard to get what he had.

Dallas whistled and Johnny murmured, "Wow."

There was a brief moment of silence before Ponyboy spoke up softly, "So, I'm not saying that it wouldn't have been that we would still be close, we could have, but as you can see... chances aren't all that good. And even if we had all been friends, I highly doubt we would have been the same kind of friends. Everyone would have been different because circumstances were different." He looked around the group.

"Alright...alright already, we'll..." Two-bit gave a sigh and rubbed his forehead. He had a headache from dealing with the 'what-if' scenrio. More like he had a headache from thinking that they would have indeed been different and probably not the best of friends, "We'll give you that. We don't want to…" at this the others grumbled in agreement, "...but we will...so how does that fit into us being all together now?" he asked.

Ponyboy lit up and held up a finger. "Elementary, my dear Waston."

"Say what?" Dallas asked dryly. Johnny blinked and looked questionably at his friend who made no move to explain himself.

"It's a quote from a book", Darry supplied, "It means, it's simple or something of that nature."

Dallas gave a 'oh' behind that as Ponyboy continued and faltered, "This is gonna...sound...well...mushy."

"Oh, God..."Dallas whined. He had enough mush to last him for eternity.

"Come on, let him continue", Sodapop laughed, "At least he gave you a warning. Be happy about that." Dallas recluantly nodded and glared warily at Ponyboy.

Ponyboy sighed. There was no way to say this without being mushy. Guess he'd just have to push through it, "Well, we...I think...we all have this bond..."

Right on cue, Dallas asked deadpanned, "Seriously?"

Steve was groaning at Ponyboy's words as he laid his head down on the table and in his arms. This made Sodapop crack up and pat Steve on the back. Two-bit was laughing at the two antics while Darry chuckled.

"Come on Dal...Steve", Johnny placated. He wanted to hear what Ponyboy had come up with.

Dallas rolled his eyes. "Fine, go ahead then..."

Steve just muttered not lifting his head up.

Ponyboy snickered. "Okay, we all have a bond. We had one since we were younger. It was born out of the trials and tribulations we had to endure."

"Trials and tribulations?" Dallas interrupted. He was hushed by the rest of the group minus Steve who still hadn't lifted his head.

Ponyboy looked at Dallas with a straight face. "It means troubles and issues, Dally."

Dallas muttered mocking him.

"Anyway, I'm thinking that maybe because of that, our bond became so strong that it sort of...like...uh..." Ponyboy trailed off. He was having a hard time conveying his thoughts into words at the moment. Guess he'd just muddle through, "It...sorta...called to each other in this afterlife, you know what I mean?"

The blank looks Ponyboy recieved told him, he lost them again. Ponyboy paused trying to gather his thoughts before he started again, "Okay I mean...like...maybe…maybe we could have all had different afterlives. Maybe, maybe we should have all had our own afterlife but since we were all bonded we kinda got the same version of the afterlife. You know?"

He looked around the group and found some seeds of dawning comprehsion so he pressed forward, "Maybe the bottom line is this: We were all together to our various ends in life so may as well be in death. In addition, we were all together like this when we were kids. We were so close in life and depended so much on each other that if we all had seperate afterlives it wouldn't work so well. We ended up with our neighborhood because that is what is closest to all our hearts. For some that was about all they knew."

The words began coming easier as Ponyboy became more animated. "So in essence because we did have a bond that most didn't know or even understand in life, most wouldn't even understand it in death. I mean think about it...as close as other gangs of our time were like Tim Shepherd's, do you really think they had a friendship outside of just...being...hoods?", Ponyboy momentarily stumbled over his last words.

He took a breath before continuing, "I mean seriously? They all became friends probably on a 98% reason of being hoods. We were friends for more than that, I'd reckon. One reason being for survival, looking towards a better future. A lot of the other gangs, including Tim Shepherd's didn't look towards the future...they barely looked from day to day. The point being, I'm not saying they weren't friends, but they were a different breed, different type of friends then we were. We were family...despite only three of us having blood ties and that accounted for something in life and now apparently it counts for something in death." Ponyboy concluded as he took a big sigh behind that.

There was silence after that for the longest time as they all thought it over. Even Steve had lifted his head by this time and was thinking about Ponyboy's words. Dallas was the first to break it.

"Wow...Pony...that was...hmm", he grunted, then held out his hand, "Someone get me a gun."

Sodapop looked at him suspiciously. "Who you gonna shoot?"

"Me."

"But you are dead, Dal!" Two-bit chuckled.

"Shut up!", Dallas groused before turning to Ponyboy with a nod lowering his hand, "You're right. You can't get any mushier then that."

"Look I could be wrong..." Ponyboy started biting his lip briefly.

"But it makes sense", Darry spoke up thoughtfully, "If you really think about it...it makes perfect sense."

"I gotta give the boy that." Two-bit agreed with a nod.

"Well, I for one couldn't imagine not hanging out with ya'll. You guys were all I had in life, so I gotta agree too", Johnny smiled at Ponyboy who returned it.

"Well, you know I'm in", Sodapop grinned.

Dallas and Steve grumbled.

"Well?" Two-bit pressed. "What about you two?"

"Smart aleck", Steve shot at Ponyboy.

"That's an agreement", Sodapop translated.

"Dal?" Johnny questioned. Said male was still muttering under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah…has some sense I guess", Dallas finally relented.

"Wow, Ponyboy. I knew you were deep but...man that was deepest I ever saw you get", Johnny gave Ponyboy friendly slug on the arm.

Ponyboy shrugged and blushed. "I dunno…it just came to me, I guess. It sounded good and plausible to me."

Two-bit gave a grin. "Well, you came up with something more than the rest of us. We have our plausible answer, guys!"

"Agreed! I dunno about you guys...but even if we went through hardships...I wouldn't change it for nothing. Not if it meant not having this crazy group", Sodapop stated with a grin.

"Me neither, little brother, me neither", Darry smiled.

Steve gave a long sigh. "I guess I wouldn't either."

Sodapop pushed Steve playfully. "You just don't want to give Ponyboy the credit."

"Yeah, yea", Steve muttered under his breath.

"You guys know I wouldn't. What would I do without you people?" Two-bit laughed.

"Ya'll know where I stand", Johnny added.

"I wouldn't change it either", Ponyboy beamed.

Everyone looked expectantly at Dallas.

Dallas groaned and fiddled with his cards. "D-d-don't...ya'll...I...look ya'll are tuff enough and let's leave it at that."

"Translation: He loves us and wouldn't change it for nothing", Two-bit cooed and batted his eyes briefly, clapping his hands together.

Everyone snickered as Dallas growled. "Two-bit, I'm gonna kill you, if you don't clamp it up!"

"What's with all the death threats, man? We're dead! When's it gonna sink in?" Two-bit cried as he fell over to the side laughing like a mad man. He got a kick out of the death puns that they all used to use so easily in life. It just cracked him up now that they were dead.

"That's it!" Dallas threw the cards in Two-bit's direction jumping out of this chair. Johnny and Ponyboy nearly didn't get out of way in time as Two-bit and Dallas came flying down the stairs. Two-bit was laughing like a hyena as Dallas chased him around.

Laughing Steve and Sodapop got up and did a flip off the porch before jumping into the chase, helping Dallas. Two-bit whined about how unfair this was but didn't slow down in his running. Darry grinned and shrugged before hopping over the railing and joining the chase.

Johnny and Ponyboy laughed as they watched the gang run around.

"So...you think our bond got us here?" Johnny asked.

"It sounded good to me", Ponyboy shrugged.

Johnny slung an arm around Ponyboy's shoulder. "Me too. It's tuff enough."

Ponyboy placed his arm around Johnny's shoulder and then looked up at the sky. "Gonna be a wild ride here, eh Johnnycakes?"

"Yeah, I think it will."

"Well...let's go. Seems Two-bit needs some help. I'm feeling generous right now." Ponyboy let out a whoop before releasing Johnny and running to help Two-bit who now had four people after him as he ran criss-cross across the country side. Yells and insults filled the air. Johnny followed after Ponyboy with a laugh.

Unbeknownst to them, one of the stars glowed brighter than the other, shining on them almost in appreciation. They all had made it through life and unknowingly left a legacy for others to follow. Their lives would teach the others after them about what friendship really was.

What brotherhood really was.

After all the hardships they faced in their lives they were rewarded. No trials nor tribulations to face. They all been there and done that.

But that wasn't the best part.

The best part...?

.

.

.

.

They were finally all together.

**_What I have is nothing to my name_**  
**_No property to speak of_**  
**_And no trophy for my game_**  
**_Intangible and worthless_**  
**_My assets on the page_**  
**_My coffers are empty_**  
**_Any offer of safety has faded away_**  
**_But what I have_**  
**_What I have is _**

**_On an ordinary day_**  
**_The extraordinary way_**  
**_You take what I can give and you treasure it_**  
**_On an ordinary day_**  
**_The extraordinary way_**  
**_You turn to me and say, I believe in this_**

**_That makes me lucky_**  
**_God, I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be_**  
**_'Cause what I have (what I have)_**  
**_Means so very little to this world_**  
**_A promise that I kept and a bridge that I saved before it burned_**  
**_The sacrifice that I made_**  
**_Brought me to my knees_**  
**_A choice that cost me everything and set somebody else free_**  
**_But what I have_**  
**_Is the value that you see in these things_**

_**On an ordinary day**_  
_**The extraordinary way**_  
_**You take what I can give and you treasure it**_  
_**On an ordinary day**_  
_**The extraordinary way**_  
_**You turn to me and say, I believe in this...**_

**_-Conjure One - Extraordinary Way_**

**Fin. **

* * *

A.N: *silent tears, sniff* Aww, man…I finished. The ending just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside; I love those kinds of endings. I love thinking they would be together in the afterlife. I mean, is there any other way? They been through a lot...the least we can do is give them the same afterlife, eh? lol

Sidenote: Even before I finished this story I already knew the answer to Two-bit's question of why they all ended up together. And the answer can be simplified: Friendship and brotherhood. I admit I got the starting point of that idea from the TV show CW Supernatural, from the heaven eppie of S5.

So I hope you enjoyed the ride! Thanks for sticking with me, if you did. And the song at the end kinda served as a credit song for this story. Lol

As, Johnny told Ponyboy: Stay Gold and I say, Peace Out!


End file.
